An Unwelcome Visit
by HavenFanMA
Summary: Set after "Trial".  Duke and Nathan had more than one reason for being tense with each other. One of the biggest is heading to town.  I'm not sure if the last two chapters work. Please let me know.
1. Chapter 1

Title: An Unwelcome Visit

Disclaimer: As always - I do not own the characters, though I wish I did.

Summary: Duke and Nathan had more than one reason for being tense with each other. One of the biggest is heading to town.

Spoilers for "Trial"

( Hi - I'm trying my hand at a multiple chapter story. I have two more chapters after this that I'm still working on. I'm not sure if my showing Audrey's thoughts works. Feedback is appreciated. Thanks.)

Chapter One

Audrey sat in her little blue car looking at the rain. She smiled slowly thinking about the day she found it. She and Nathan had gone looking to find her a used car - after all now that she was no longer in the FBI she couldn't take advantage of company-provided transportation. They had been working on a long, stressful and, because it was in Haven, bizarre case for most of the week. He was exhausted - no surprise really, treading water for hours will do that. _God, I'm so lucky I found him in time._ And yet he still gave up a whole Saturday to help her find this car.

He told her there was no rush. He'd be OK with bringing her to work, playing chauffeur if she needed - just until she found something. Of course that was stupid. She couldn't ask him to do that. He was just being a nice guy, like usual. _He actually seemed like he didn't mind... _

She smirked. _Yeah Right! What guy would want to chauffeur some chick he works with everywhere?._ Slowly the smirk faded into a look of confusion_. but , well we are friends... pretty close - and he has been really odd lately._

Yesterday had changed things for her a little. She hadn't realized how protective she felt until... She clenched her hand. _Wow, he will put up with an amazing about of shit. That boy really needs a spine._ She became serious and, with an expression of quiet resolve, looked into the distance. _Well - there's been more than enough of that._ She was here to look out for him ... in case his nice guy instincts put him at risk of getting hurt again.

_He needs a girlfriend. Someone who will appreciate him - treat him right._ Nathan was her best friend, her partner. She wanted the best for him but felt a little weird when she thought about trying to fix him up with someone. Frowning, she pushed her mind away from the subject. Not one to dwell for long on her inner feelings and motivations, she distracted herself by looking at her hand. She flexed it, thinking about how sharply it stung the day before.

_That was stupid._ She probably should work on her temper. Haven could be so frustrating sometimes. People have answers they wouldn't tell her... yet. The idea she has to somehow earn the secrets made her nuts, but she'd wait. She knew digging on her own would be the best she could do for the moment. There's only so much she could drag out of people, ... like Duke.

As much as she wanted to strangle Duke for keeping secrets about her mother she couldn't help but like him. She was grateful for his help, and the huge pieces of the Nathan puzzle he filled in the day before. _Christ! Men can be so stupid sometimes._

*********** 20 hours earlier *************

Audrey looked over at her partner, standing in the doorway of their office, flipping through what looked like a magazine. From his body language Audrey could tell that this was something ... odd. _Ho boy, he's practically crawling out of his skin. This must be good._ "So ... what's that and why are you holding it like it might catch fire?'

"It's a catalog. Laverne gave it to me. I'm .. um, not sure exactly why". Nathan looked really confused. He turned to a page that was marked with a yellow post-in note. The way his forehead crinkled reminded Audrey strongly of a lost little boy.

Audrey tried not to smile. The fuzzy-haired dispatcher had been with Haven PD for a long time. She was kind and patient, and clearly adored Nathan. None of that, however, interfered with her using her quirky sense of humor to tweak him. The fact that Nathan totally missed this really amused her. "Let me see it" she said reaching out her hand.

He folded the magazine over to expose the marked page, moved to her, and set the catalog down on her desk. He pointed to a specific image. "She said that I might want to buy this". He looked as if he was not sure if he wanted to laugh, cry, or throw up.

Leaning over the paper, Audrey burst out "THIS?"

"A little louder please, they didn't catch that next door"

"Oh Nathan, I LOVE it!"

Nathan glared at her and stalked back to his desk. "I should have known telling you was a bad idea. I should've hidden the damn thing in my coat!" He started moving stacks of papers on his desk, looking for the most complicated piece of paperwork to focus on.

Audrey picked up the magazine and held it in front of her. She let out a long slow whistle. "$89 for a t-shirt? Whoa. Oh, wait - I sit corrected... It's an 'imported silk and cotton blend top', oh my." _Actually, he'd look pretty hot in that._ "Well, stud boy here is looking pretty good in it. That's a lot of money for not much fabric. It's so thin, it definitely won't be warm - wouldn't really be an issue for you though".

He sighed. "Be serious please. I'd never buy something like that. What was she thinking?"

"Let's see... a v-neck shirt that would seriously hug your frame, that's thin enough and silky enough to qualify as advertising - hmmm. Nope. No clue." She gave him an impish grin.

He looked at her, his eyes narrowing. "Parker" he said, drawing out the name in warning.

"What? " she said in mock innocence, blinking very slowly. _This is almost cruel. He's so easy._

He dug through his pen collection and found his favorite black one. "Whatever you're thinking, the answer is no". He pointed it at her. "If I see that thing at Christmas I WILL shoot you."

Audrey made a point of looking from Nathan to the photo, then back at Nathan - tilting her head side-to-side as if making a difficult decision. She pushed the catalog away. "Naahh, it's way too tight".

His loud snort of laughter caught her by surprise. "Yeah, right... this coming from the woman who went to a poker game in skinny jeans and a very tight, very bright, white tank top". He gave her a serious look. "Don't get me wrong, I give you full marks for strategy - there's no way they could concentrate properly on their cards". He flashed her a tiny evil grin. "But you should be careful, there are people in Haven with heart conditions, you know."

_What has gotten into him lately? _"Well, well - aren't we Mister Sassy today!" Audrey paused for a minute before, in a deliberately casual and disinterested voice she said "So... you were looking?"

Nathan shuffled the papers on his desk, looking anywhere but at her. "I may be 'troubled' Parker - but I'm not dead." He went back to his paperwork, a small crooked smile on his face, mirroring a larger one on hers. They settled into a companionable silence.

After a few minutes he walked over, grabbed the magazine and headed towards the trash can. His sudden movement made Audrey jerk to attention. "Hey! Don't throw that out".

He turned to her. "You don't need prop material. Trust me - you do a fine job busting my ass on your own". He turned back to the can.

"No - you don't get it. You're missing a huge financial opportunity here".

He turned again. "And that would be what exactly"

"Well, if you expanded your wardrobe, you could moonlight."

"As a stripper."

"No... as a Gigolo" said Audrey, breaking out laughing, then gasping for air.

"You're hysterical". Nathan tossed the catalog into the trash, walked back to his desk and sat down. He hunched his shoulders as if to protect himself from further teasing.

Audrey wiped the tears from her eyes. "Aw come on, you'd be good at it - and it would make you really popular".

"Come again?"

"A man, dressed like that - who can do whatever a woman wants, for as long as she wants, and will never complain about getting numb?" She leaned back in her chair and put her feet on the desk. "That is the very definition of 'gold mine' my friend". She took a long slow sip of coffee to keep herself from laughing at the look on Nathan's face.

Nathan hoped he wasn't blushing but rubbed his face with his hand to cover just in case. He started to chuckle, trying very hard not think about Audrey in the context of 'for as long as she wants'. "Fine. We can be a double act. I'll be the gigolo - you'll be the stand-up comedian"

"Excuse Me?" the Chief said from the doorway.

Nathan groaned and planted his face on his desk.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Audrey saw Nathan put his face on his desk and cover his head with both hands. _Oh hell, he's really embarrassed._ "Sorry Chief" she said, louder than necessary. "I was just busting Nathan's chops - What's up?"

The Chief strolled into the office, a stack of papers in his hands. "Nathan, I need you to drop these off at Rudy's place and get some supplies when you're there".

"Rudy's place? That's the next town over - what for"?

The Chief gave his son a look of deep frustration. "Town's paying you two jokers to sit in here and horse around - might as well make yourself useful while it's quiet. Anyway, copier's on the fritz and we just blew through the last of the paper. You know your way around over there. You should be able to do what I ask fast enough and get back here without a hassle. Now would you stop arguing with me and get going?"

"and this can't be done in town because...?"

"Nathan!" barked the Chief. Nathan simply crossed his arms in reply, "Would it kill you to do what I ask"? Looking at his son sitting resolutely still. "It's cheaper".

"So... " Said Nathan in a measured voice, as if he was talking to child or someone who had trouble understanding English. "you want me to go 15 miles out of the way to save a few pennies on copies and supplies?" His face flashed in annoyed confusion. "Since when am I the office clerk, ...is Darlene sick? What the hell is this"?

The Chief looked at Nathan for a few seconds, his face held in a neutral vaguely cranky expression. "You know Edna Miller passed last week". "

"Yeah, I heard that" Nathan said spun by the sudden change of topic.

"She left Marlene Anderson that big antique grandfather clock of hers". He sighed. "I ran into Eddie at breakfast. Seems the whole family's coming here to pick it up later this morning."

Nathan swallowed hard, a wary look on his face. "The Andersons"?

"Uh Huh".

"with Nat?"

"Expect so".

Nathan rested his face in both hands, "Shit!"

"Pretty much. yeah"

Audrey noticed that Nathan looked slightly ill. He started to shake his head. "just terrific" he muttered. Standing up, he headed for the doorway and grabbed his coat. "I'm headin' out".

Audrey broke in. "Hey! Could I get a clued in here?"

Nathan looked back towards her but didn't meet her eyes. "I need to take off for a few hours"

"Nathan..."

"I'll be back." He walked out before she had time to get out of her chair

Audrey stared at the doorway. _What the hell just happened?_ She had gotten used to going everywhere with him - it was pretty much assumed that when one left the other would follow. A strange hollow feeling started in her stomach. She stood up and headed after him.

"Whoa there" the Chief said, holding up one hand. "You can't go tearing after Nathan right now".

"Watch me!" She snapped.

"Parker" he said, moving in front of her. "You're not the world's most patient woman." Audrey blinked in surprise. "You could chase him down and spend the next six hours pulling the story out of him word-by-word, or... you could save yourself some hassle and Nathan a killer headache and just go see Duke."

"Duke?" Asked Audrey, confused.

"Yup, shifty fella'... has a boat"

She shot him a dirty look.

Chief Wournos looked at the clock on the wall, took a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth. "He was involved somehow... when they blew up. Don't ask me how - Nathan doesn't talk about stuff like that, especially with me."

_Blew up? _"Nathan and this... Nat person?"

"Uh huh. Name's Natalie. Hasn't been in town for a few years."

"So... She and Nathan were a couple?"

"Oh Yes. My best guess ... she'll head straight here once they've packed the car".

" ..to see him?"

He gave her the look that sarcastic people always give the the infinitely stupid. He turned and went back into his office, leaving Audrey standing in the middle of the floor lost and confused.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Audrey stood stock still. Almost as if, by not moving, she could pause everything and have time to figure out why Nathan just disappeared.

_I can do this. I've solved bigger puzzles than this_. Nathan was obviously upset that this girl was heading to Haven. _He must have gotten hurt pretty badly if he couldn't even pretend to be civil_. Normally he could deal with even the most annoying people. He'd be sarcastic, but otherwise polite. Instead he was gone.

She rubbed her temples trying to force calm reason to silence the churning confusion in her chest. _He was dating her when his troubles came back_. She was there when he was freaked out, frightened. _Did she help him or make it worse? He must have really cared her to be this wrecked right now. _She tried to imagine what it would be like to lose the ability to feel the touch of the person you love? _Poor Nathan - that must have been hell._

What if there was no one at fault? Maybe Nathan was feeling guilty for shutting her out. That was well within the realm of normal Nathan behavior after all - _but he seemed more hurt than guilty_. Was she unable or unwilling to be with a man with Nathans' condition? To stay with him if he couldn't feel her? Audrey didn't know what to think about that. In the abstract she could see a woman deciding she needed to leave but this was Nathan - that was different.

She reached for her phone and was about to call him when she snapped the phone shut. She needed a few more facts before she found him. He probably wouldn't give her details unless pushed pretty hard and he didn't look like he should be pushed right now. The Chief's voice echoed in her head _'save yourself some hassle ... just go see Duke.' _

Audrey walked out of the station, her mind locked on getting something out of Duke that would help her figure this out. Behind her the Chief watched her leave, hands on his hips, sadly shaking his head.

Fifteen minutes later she walked onto Duke's boat. "Duke - are you here? I need to talk to you. It's important."

"Top 'o the mornin' Officer Parker" said Duke, stepping onto the deck. He froze, looking at her face with deep concern. "Audrey? What's wrong?"

She got right to the point. "Natalie Anderson is in town for the day. She's trying to find Nathan. The Chief said you could tell me what the hell that means, and why Nathan looks like he's been hit by a car."

"Ook - Natalie? Jesus, that's not good." Duke said quietly. He seemed lost in a world of his own.

"Really? Not good? There's a massive understatement." She said in a tone both louder and angrier than her usual. "Duke, I am in no mood for games. I need to know what happened and then I need to find Nathan. I'll learn more from you than I will chasing around town after him and then spending god knows how long pulling the story out of him - but I need you spill, NOW!"

Looking at her standing there vibrating with worry Duke smiled. "He'll be OK Audrey - I promise. And, yes I will tell you everything you need to know, but..." He paused. "..first, you're going to need to take it down a gear, sit down, and drink something. Coffee?"

"I don't need any damn coffee!"

"No, what you will need, what both of us should have, is a large bottle of whiskey - but it's only 10:30 in the morning, so coffee will have to do. You will want to sit and drink, trust me on this". He gestured to a large trunk and disappeared into the galley.

She sat, remembering the happy look on Nathan's face earlier and how quickly all that happiness disappeared. She ached thinking about it. She wanted nothing more than to find him, shake him out of it, hold him. _Nathan please be OK_.

Two minutes later both were sitting, coffee in hand. Duke looked reluctant to start the conversation but after taking a deep breath he began. "To have the scope of this, I'm going to have to give you a little back-story too."

Unable to stop herself Audrey cracked "In the beginning..?

Duke sighed. "Officer Parker. As much as I normally welcome your wry and witty commentary - this already long story with be much, much longer with you playing the roll of peanut gallery." He took a sip of coffee. "If, on the other had, you can restrain yourself - I promise to give you free reign at the end and will give you my absolute and undivided attention".

Audrey drew a pinched finger and thumb across her lips in a zipping motion.

"Do you know when things started this time... for Nathan?" Duke asked.

"His.. condition?"

"Exactly"

"No". She was surprised she said it. _Did I really never ask him about this?_

"It was five years, two months today. Natalie and he split up six weeks after he changed. They were together for oh... must've been six, seven months?. It got serious, pretty fast". He sat back and sipped his coffee.

She thought about what that news meant. Here was a connection to one of the worst times in Nathan's life, when he lost the ability to feel touch. A memory that apparently he was in no hurry to deal with or talk about.

"There was a time... " Duke let out a loud sigh. "Nathan and I were close once."

She blinked - she hadn't seen that coming.

Duke jerked his head slightly, like he was trying to shake a bad memory away. "But things changed, obviously. It left both of us pretty happy to stick it to each other, if we could, which... " He looked at her meaningfully "..is a story for another day." Audrey nodded resentfully. Smiling, he continued: "..so what you need to know is that Nathan and I often ended up liking the same girls, but he was more conservative, less confidant, and long story short... ".

"You won the girls."

"Yes'm - I pretty much could shark a girl out from under him every time."

"and did?"

"And did. Then he met this girl when she spent the summer here..."

"She was immune to your charms?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Duke looked mildly surprised and irritated by this fact.

"but you tried?" Audrey said coyly.

"Of course! She liked to flirt, a lot actually - but there was no denying she was hooked on him. God she was something." He looked off into the distance for a moment before he continued. "They were inseparable. She started staying at his place after the first week. moved in about a month later."

"Really?" Audrey felt a knot form in her stomach.

"Most people had bets on them setting a date..."

"He was ENGAGED?" Audrey broke in. She felt her skin go cold and clammy.

"No, but it was probably just a matter of time."

"So, what changed? The ... condition?"

"Yup, He got really scared, went to a ton of doctors, and they started fighting a lot. His temper got pretty bad. One night she showed up, crying, looking really wrecked. Her shirt was torn, her hair a mess." He looked into his cup, then back at her, his face worried. "She said that she had always liked me and... she said she needed me to protect her from Nathan."

"What? You thought he - COME ON!" Audrey felt a surge of anger. Offended on Nathan's behalf.

"Well... he'd been..."

"DUKE!"

"Hey! - I know better now, OK?" He put a hand up in a stop motion.

Audrey glared at him, crossed her arms and said, with a pointed nastiness, "So you slept with her."

Duke looked at her. He made a point of taking a long drink and swallowing before he spoke. "Not to put too fine a point on it but yes, I did. She said they'd broken up and that he had been a total ass to her - not something that was a stretch to picture mind you."

"and then...?"

"The next day we spent the morning together and... in the course of it talked about maybe taking a trip. Just getting in the boat and leaving for a few weeks."

"You're joking! Duke!... "

Duke put one finger in the air in warning.

She made an unhappy growling sound. "Whose idea was the trip?"

With his head tilted down, Duke's eyes looked up at her. Frowning and serious he said nothing.

Audrey's voice was cold. "You got played."

"Your observational skills are legendary. May I continue?" When she gestured for him to go on he said, "She said she needed to pick up some supplies and would be back in a few hours." I cleaned up, had some lunch and went to look for her. I found them both in the park, fighting... naturally."

"You were going to get in between that?"

He grunted something that might have been a yes.

Audrey shook her head. "OK.. ten points for chivalry, negative twenty for good sense".

"Neither of them saw me heading over. Before I got close, I heard things things that never should have been said... and things I should have realized." He took a long sip and made a tight sour face, "They hadn't broken up. He'd been worried, was out looking for her all night." He rubbed his eyebrows with his fingers as if he felt a headache coming on. "He wasn't trying to get rid of her, not even close. It was clear that she had been getting angry and picking fights." He put one hand over his eyes "Apparently he'd mostly just been defending himself". He looked embarrassed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"So, she wanted out but wanted him to be the bad guy."

"Exactly. She... ugh" He got quiet.

_God, what the hell had this bitch done?_ What? she said softly

"She blamed him for not trying harder, you know to... feel her. If he really loved her... "

Audrey made a sound in her throat - a strangled, angry sound

Duke gave a short rueful laugh. "Then she gave him the punch line to the whole thing. She pointed out that she was wearing my shirt. She said how sorry she was, and told him she never meant to do it, but..." His voice took on a mimicking tone. "..she was so lonely". She told him she needed... something more." He winced as he said the last part.

Audrey sat with her mouth open for a moment. "Oh Crap" she groaned. They sat in silence for a while, each looking miserable.

"You should have heard her Audrey. The girl was a pro. He had no clue what she was doing." He frowned into his drink. "The worst part was when he asked her to forgive him for driving her away - to me. She had him totally suckered. When she left town he seemed to think the break up was mutual and that she actually tried to make it work."

"Did he ever...?"

"No, he has no idea I heard any of that. For all he knows I slept with her thinking they were still together - just to fuck with him."

"So, no trip then?"

"Please!" Duke gave her an offended look. "She came back to the boat later that afternoon. I told her what I knew and asked her why she staged the torn shirt. She claimed that he HAD torn it but hadn't meant to..." Audrey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know" He said softly. "When I called her on the scam she laughed and said that men were suckers for a fragile woman and..." He smiled bitterly. ".. then thanked me for being useful."

"Wow."

"Yeah"

Audrey felt sick and angry. _How could he fall for that? _She knew the answer. Thinking of the look on his face when Jess had been trying to get him to 'investigate an intruder'. His forehead was wrinkled, his eyes confused. _God he was adorable. _It just didn't register with him that Jess was hitting on him. Despite his strength, intelligence, and stoic reserve, Nathan could be amazingly naive.

Duke stood. "You should go find him."

"I will. Duke... I won't tell him about the park..".

"But you want to tell him the rest?"

She nodded.

He thought for a while "Yes, It's time. Go ahead".

She stood up, walked over and squeezed his shoulder. "Thank you".

She stepped off the boat and began walking up the dock. Taking out her cell, she pressed "1". It rang three times, then nothing. "Nathan?" She heard only silence. "Nathan?" she said with a softer voice, one tinged with fear.

"Audrey?"

"Where are you?"

He was quiet for 5 seconds... 10... "Up on King's Point".

"I'm on my way."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Nathan sat near the edge of the cliff, his arms wrapped around his knees, staring into the distance. He heard her approach but didn't turn until he heard the sounds of things being dropped on the ground. "What's all this?"

"On my way up here I ran into the diner and asked for an emergency picnic to go." Audrey said with the air of someone explaining the obvious.

Nathan was floored. "You did?"

"Sure." She said. Nathan was so funny sometimes. He wouldn't blink twice at her tackling an armed gunman, but a last minute picnic seemed to be a reach.

"You are a human tornado, you know that?" His face tried to smile and almost succeeded. "You really are a local now."

"Almost. I just need to kick that nasty full sentence habit." She looked at him and frowned. He looked pale, curled into himself like the entire world had been using him for target practice today.

"Parker... " Nathan started to speak, stopped and started again. "I'm not really in the mood to eat". He gave her a cautious worried look.

"Don't worry Nathan. You are a man of many talents. I'm sure you can brood and eat at the same time". She had that determined set to her mouth that told him he had already lost any argument he might try to have.

Trying to put his sick feeling and bad mood aside he shifted over to the blanket and stretched out looking at the sky. He slowly blew out a long breath. "So... is now when we play 20 questions or may I eat first?" He seemed resigned to having to give Audrey every unpleasant detail.

"No questions. I'm good" she said, sitting and unpacking the basket.

He looked at her in abject disbelief. "You? No questions?" He sat up "Are you feeling OK, or... was there a second chameleon in Haven?" Seeing he had the classic Nathan quirky half-smile back on his face, Audrey began to relax a little.

"At some point, you will be giving me the rest of the details from that bub!" she said, pointing a fork at him. "For now, I will content myself with you looking less like you want to do a header off that cliff." She stood and dusted off her pants.

Nathan started to shift into a more comfortable position, the tension in his body noticeably reduced. "I'll be OK" he said, reaching for a bag of chips. He stopped, looked over the spread she brought and glanced up at her in surprise. "This is food for one."

'Yup. She crouched and stared into his eyes. "I figured you needed time alone, but I needed to see how you were, and wanted to make sure you had more than two cups of black of coffee and a cheese danish in your stomach. I'm hovering, sue me."

Nathan looked at her for a full minute without speaking. His face changing from confusion to relaxation to something undefinable. He looked down saying quietly, saying only "Thanks Parker."

She stood shifting her weight from one foot to the other, deciding how to begin. "I wanted to know what happened."

His face twitched in amusement. "Of course you did."

"Your dad gave me the rough outline - and then... I talked to Duke". He looked at her through hooded eyes. "He feels bad" she said quietly.

"He should."

Failing to see a gentle path, Audrey fell back on her default questioning style. "Are you up here because you feel guilty about all that? Jesus, Nathan it wasn't your fault."

"You wouldn't understand" he grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest and tucking his head down.

Her temper flared. All the tension in her body from worry fueling her words. "Nathan Wournos, I SWEAR if you felt pain I would punch the hell out of you right now!"

His mouth opened as if to speak, and suddenly snapped closed.

"Do you know what most people would do in your shoes?" His reply was just a look of deep confusion. "OK - Let's run it down" she said, ticking off things on her fingers. "Do you regularly drink yourself into a coma? No. Do you go start fights with strangers in bars? No." She put both hands on her hips. "Tell me Nathan... What risky, edgy, and inappropriate behavior do you have - besides golf?"

He frowned at her. "Not being an ass because of ... this..." He gestured vaguely to his body "..is not the same as being a good boyfriend". "She deserved better. If I had tried..." He looked up in shock when Audrey made an incoherent sound of rage.

Audrey stood breathing deeply, clenching and unclenching her fists. "I swear I'm going to shoot that bitch.." She growled. Into Nathan's shocked face she said, in a voice trying hard to be calm, "You are missing vital information detective. Things did not go down the way you thought."

Sitting carefully, as if any second her body would explode, Audrey proceeded to tell him everything she had learned, minus the parts in the park.

When she finished he stared at her, stunned. "She... ? Wow. Even Duke doesn't deserve a woman like that".

"Nathan!"

"OK, OK Duke's not that bad" he admitted grudgingly "So... She thought she'd check to see if I'm still broken."

"You are not broken, but if you don't knock it off you're going to be". She glared at him. "If she'd just grown a pair and kept with you, she'd have a man who's a totally loyal husband and awesome father right now - What an unbelievably stupid, selfish bitch!" She seemed to wind up with this last statement. "What the hell! There's nothing wrong with you as a man - it's not your fault you can't feel pain. Well, physical pain anyway". She smirked. "It's amazing to me how much shit you'll put up with. It's like some kind of sick superpower".

"I appreciate the props Parker , I do, but I think you're overdoing it. Even in Maine, stoic doesn't qualify as a superpower". He smiled and looked off into the distance.

"Are you going to be OK?"

"I.." He looked down at his hands in his lap and clenched them together. ".. I was scared. Then she was hurt and offended when everything became permanent. It seemed natural that she would feel that way". His voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "Who'd want to be with a freak?"

"Nathan" whispered Audrey. Her voice filled with pain.

He looked up to see her eyes wet with tears. "Oh, Hey! Don't cry". He stood and walked over to her. He took her by the shoulders. "Don't. I'm sorry".

She pulled him into a hug, missing the expression of surprised pleasure on his face. "There is nothing wrong with you but.." She pulled back and looked up at him ".. Oh, God".

He laughed and looked into her face. "Nothing wrong with me but my perspective?"

She flushed. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking about how that would come out".

They stood facing each other, almost but not quite touching. "Jess wasn't wrong about that" she said. "Though I'd be happy to put a size six up her butt for walking out on you".

He laughed. "My defender". His face softened into a questioning smile."I thought you liked her".

"I did, until she left. Now I'm mostly disappointed in her, and a little angry".

"I can see that" he said, walking back to his spot on the blanket and sitting down.

Audrey felt odd. She could swear that a second before he stepped away he was moving towards her. Like he was going to hug her again. Shaking herself for being foolish, she reached into the basket and pulled out a wrapped sandwich. "Turkey".

"Is that the sandwich, or a personal comment?"

"Both".

He smirked. "You are the perfect woman Parker".

She handed him the sandwich, looked at him for a moment and said "Do you want some time alone?"

"I do." He gave her a sheepish smile. "I appreciate the company more than you know, but that was a lot to take in. I think it needs to settle for a bit before I'll be able to make sense of it.".

Feeling relaxed and happy for the first time since she found him, Audrey turned to leave. "God Nathan, your taste in women was awful", she shot over her shoulder.

"No argument here".

He lay back and started to shake with silent laughter. "It's gotten better though".

She turned back. "What was that?"

"Nothing."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Audrey walked into the station. Barely seeing where she was going, she headed straight for her desk.

The Chief stepped into the doorway. "Parker! What the hell are you doing here?"

She turned to face him. "It's OK Chief. He's fine - I brought him lunch".

He looked impressed for a moment, then his face settled back into its more normal "grumpy codger" mode. Something was definitely making him tense. The Chief had an air about him - Audrey could not define it but it was clear to her that he was shortly going to cross his own personal line marked "enough".

The she saw her.

She was sitting in the Chief's office. She was tall and thin, but shapely. Her shoulder length chestnut hair was glossy and fell in soft waves. _Great! She looks like she belongs in a damn shampoo commercia_l. Her gray-blue silk dress was casual and elegant without being fussy. The boots had just the right amount of heel to be sexy and yet not seem impractical. She had flawless makeup and subtle, perfectly matched jewelery. Audrey hated her on sight.

Clearly, she was one of those women. The ones who don't need friends to help them find a dress to wear. Women who would always remember the names of people she met - and would know how to make small talk. One who knows exactly what looks good on her and how to get that "oh this old thing?" vibe... how to be "accidentally gorgeous" .

Natalie caught site of Audrey, stood up and walked over. _Crap, she's graceful._ Audrey noticed that as she approached she carefully took the details of Audrey's appearance - her hair, outfit, and badge. "Hello. I'm Natalie Anderson. Do you work with Nate?" She held out one perfectly manicured hand.

Audrey focused on breathing calmly. She felt agitated, defensive. "Yes, I'm his partner" she said, trying to school here face to an expression of pleasant neutrality.

"I'd really like to find him while I'm in town could you give me his cell number?". Audrey froze. She had planned on trying to be civil, if she could. It felt to early to open hostilities. Fortunately, she was saved from answering by the Chief.

"Like I told ya before, be happy to - but it won't do any good. He left his cell on his desk, which I plan to give him hell for when he gets back. He went the next town over, running errands - won't be back for hours". The Chief was clearly pushing the folksy local cop thing to it's limit.

Natalie pouted. "I wanted to see him".

The Chief's face shifted. _Ah - there is is. _Audrey fought back a smile. Apparently the Chief's line had just been crossed. "Which is why I sent him on errands" he said, dropping all pretense of being helpful.

Natalie started, her cheeks colored. "That's rather rude".

"Yes, I suppose it is. You might've had the best reasons in the world for leaving - I don't know and frankly don't care. You didn't see him after you left - I'm not interested in seeing him like that again".

Natalie looked agitated "It was a long time ago, people change".

When he didn't say anything her pretence at calm fell away. "So you won't help me? You can't even pretend to be objective - the break-up was mutual you know?"

The Chief looked at her with a deadpan expression. "He's my son". He turned and left.

She turned to Audrey. Staring at her and letting her eyes travel up and down Audrey's body, listing clearly in some mental file every flaw she saw. Audrey suddenly realized her hair was held up with a pencil in a casual but messy way, her sweater was missing a button on the bottom, and her shirt had a maple syrup stain on it left over from breakfast.

"I'm going to find him" Natalie said in a determined voice.

Audrey felt strangely calm. "No. You won't. What you will do is leave. You will not be bothering Nathan today or any other day".

Natalie's face scrunched in offended confusion. "On who's authority?".

"The woman with the gun".

If Nathan doesn't want to see me, let him say that!".

"He doesn't need to. I'm here. You blew it. You came back because you realized that guys like Nathan are rare and you wasted your chance". Audrey smiled. It was not a nice smile.

"People change".

"Yes, he certainly has".

Natalie flashed a look - a fleeting look of hope and an almost creepy desperation. "He's better now?".

Audrey laughed. "There's nothing wrong with Nathan". She looked Natalie up and down slowly. "I'm afraid you dressed up for nothing. You have no power over him anymore. That crap you pulled in the park? Sick".

Natalie looked deeply confused and said in a small, shaky voice, "He told you?"

Audrey crossed her arms and settled into a comfortable stance. "Didn't need to".

"How do you...?"

Audrey pitched her voice low, made it have an edge. "This is Haven - things are... different here. People can do things, know things." She smiled as Natalie's expression shifted from confused into fear. "I know more about you than you can imagine. I know you miss him. You regret leaving. Since you left you've only found guys that are selfish, arrogant, and uninterested in your needs. The exact opposite in fact of Nathan".

"You wouldn't understand". Natalie looked uncomfortable, sad, and frustrated.

"No I understand just fine. You got what you wanted. You wanted out - well... Audrey spread her arms wide. ".. you're out. You should feel good about it - you didn't even need to be the bad guy.

Aren't you lucky Duke was around to be useful?" Audrey hissed the last word.

Natalie's face drained of color. She looked shaken "Nathan and I had something special. I was wrong to leave, but I'm back now". Her voice was wheedling, desperate.

Audrey looked at her in mock sadness. "Oh, Sorry. You're too late. He's moved on".

Those seemed to be the magic words. Natalie stopped talking, Her shoulders slumped. She seemed... defeated. She looked at Audrey and said sadly "Are you...?"

Audrey kept her face void of expression. "It's time for you to go".

Her face hardened, twisted into a sneer. "You can't blame me for leaving him. Any woman would have".

"No not any woman, just a woman like you".

Natalie gave her a snide smile. "Please! A man who can't feel you - who wants that.?"

"You're a fool".

Natalie pulled on her coat, squared her shoulders and snarled. "No woman wants a man who's damaged goods".

WHAM!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Audrey watched Nathan running towards the car, coat over his head. "Gahhhhh!" he said, jumping into the car and slamming the door shut. "I'm waiting for an Arc to come by any second now".

"Does Haven Auto repair Arcs?" she asked with a smirk. "Now that's what I call full service."

He wiped the rain out of his eyes. "Thanks for coming to get me. The truck should be ready by the end of the day".

She turned the wipers up to high. "Not a problem. Where do you want to go, home?"

"Do you mind hanging out for a while?" he asked, looking at her with a hopeful expression.

Her heart skipped a little. "Be happy to. You have something in mind?".

"There's a Craft Fair I wanted to check out. It's got an artist that makes really good stained glass. I have a few pieces already. It's indoors..." He smiled. "..but it's a bit of a drive".

She shrugged. "Which way?"

"Get onto Route 12". He shook the rain out of his hair with his fingers. "So... I wanted to tell you a few things". He paused. "Can't have you walking around thinking I'm a deluded sucker who dates monsters"

Audrey was instantly annoyed. "You are NOT going to defend her, are you?"

Irritated but smirking Nathan said, "Parker, do you think you could shut up long enough for me to tell you the personal, private information that I don't talk about to any other living soul?"

"Shutting up" she grumbled.

"I am NOT defending her, OK? What she said to Duke was pretty fucked up, and she was pretty well a cast-iron bitch by the time she left".

_No kidding_. She snorted

He ignored her. "What you told me surprised me, but it didn't shock me. Natalie was pretty messed up then".

"Shocker!".

"Could you knock it off for 5 minutes, please!" She pressed her lips together in reply. "Take the next exit, it'll be 10 miles to the next turnoff" he said, pointing to the exit sign.

"Sorry" She said, but she couldn't stop herself. "Why would you date a woman like that? Because she's beautiful?"

He shrugged. "At first, yeah. When she came to town, I figured she'd go for Duke. He's traveled a lot, speaks multiple languages... " he looked really annoyed at this. "But.. she liked me". He looked a little smug.

"So you asked her out to piss off Duke?" _They're so much alike._

"Well that, and she's really pretty. Natalie is in many ways an amazing lady. World traveler, fantasitc cook, likes hiking, mountain climbing, is a good artist...".

She felt a hard knot form in her stomach. _No, please_. "Do you...?"

"I do NOT still love her" he cut her off. "But I did. I may be one of the few people who really knows her, gets her. I had to think about things for a while before I figured it all out". He sighed. "For all the good parts she's also really messed up".

"I noticed" she said under her breath.

"You really can't stop yourself can you?" he smirked. "Look, Natalie had a really fucked up childhood".

"My heart bleeds".

"Fair enough, but not everyone comes out of stuff like that in one piece. She's not a strong as you are". Audrey flushed. "She learned early on that being beautiful was powerful, a way to manage the world".

She was startled. "You mean sex! She got what she wanted with sex!"

"Yes, she did". He said in a matter-of-fact tone. He wasn't embarrassed or angry. "Parker, she's not some cartoon villain. People are complicated".

Audrey found herself interested almost against her will. "So, when you..."

He smiled. "Bright girl. When I stopped being able to feel things, when my skin basically turned off, she was thrown. She didn't know how to deal with me. Hell, I didn't know how to deal with myself. We were both frightened, confused. She was sure things were over".

Audrey's eyebrows drew together. "I don't understand".

"She never had anyone love her without... well, conditions. She hadn't known... ". He blushed. "Even with the stoic thing, I'm a pretty emotional guy".

"That's not news" Audrey said with a soft smile.

He nodded, smiled. He turned to face her "When I love someone, it's total - I don't keep anything back".

She felt his intense blue eyes on her - a gaze so powerful it was almost physical. The car suddenly seemed very small. It was hard for Audrey to catch her breath.

"And.." he said, breaking the spell and looking back out the front windscreen. "She couldn't believe I would love her the way I was. That I wouldn't leave her, even though... ". His voice got awkward and drifted off.

Audrey blinked in surprise, "You two didn't have sex after you changed... did you?"

"No, we didn't. I thought... If I only tried hard enough to get through to her, she'd believe I really loved her. Then we could... figure things out. After she left, I felt like I failed her. I thought.. she would be happier without me" He laughed ruefully. "Over the years I let it eat at me. Decided everything was my fault". He looked out the passenger window.

Audrey was at loss for anything to say. This was not how she thought things went down. It was so much easier, less confusing earlier that morning.

They drove on for a while. Making deliberately light conversation. He told her about the local gossip he heard the day before. She told him about the apparent secret love affair between Darlene and the janitor at the station. The rain was behind them now. The day was sunny with bright white clouds.

After a twenty minutes had passed he switched to a less casual topic. "So Parker...? What was that yesterday? Of the two of us I'm the emotional one. You're the one who keeps it together. Hell, you took my gun when I was upset during the Darkman stuff, but... yesterday when you came up to the cliff, you were really upset. You got really angry and ... started crying?" He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Are you mad?" She asked confused.

"Mad? No! not at all. I just... " He paused and tried from another direction. "I got a call from my dad this morning".

"You mean the Chief."

"No, this was my dad. He told me..." He cleared his throat and continued with a passable thick Maine accent 'Day was pretty quiet. Couple of idiots got into it down at the docks. Harry and Sam caught a poacher - we got him into lockup before he got himself beat to death. Rowing team got busted with grain alcohol, an' I sent Parker on patrol after she went medieval on your ex-girlfriend. Nothin' I couldn't handle'.

She laughed. "Well done".

"Years of practice. So... you two got into it a bit?"

"You didn't ask him"?

"Would there be a point?" he said with a touch of frustration. One of the Chief's hobbies was giving Nathan shit. It would be just like him to drop a little bomb like that and then go nonverbal.

Audrey grunted. She saw his point. Then, angry and embarrassed she said, "It was ridiculous. She was totally overreacting. I mean.. threatening to press charges, really!"

He stared at her. "Press charges for what?"

"It was no big deal. It's not like I hit her that hard".

"You HIT her?". His eyes opened wide.

"Smacked technically".

"You smacked her?". Audrey could tell he didn't understand but seemed amused.

"Yeah... on the face ... kinda hard" she admitted guiltily.

Nathan stared at her, mouth open. "Why?"

Audrey was quiet for a minute, then "I was out of line". Defensively she added, "She said some stupid things".

"I can only imagine" he said raising his eyebrows in contemplation of the possibilities.

She huffed. "Nathan, after I heard what that bitch did to you, I was so angry she's lucky I didn't shoot her skinny, overdressed ass". Her anger both confused and thrilled him. "You're my best friend. I don't have that many people I can count on and..."

"And?" He prompted.

She said nothing, Then with a grimace said, "When you heard her name, you were so hurt, and... you just left".

"Oh" he said softly. He was quiet for a moment, then looking at her with a gentle, kind expression he said, "Without you. I disappeared... and left you behind".

She stared out the windscreen forcing herself not to react. Her heart racing, her shoulders tense. Her eyes felt itchy, though she wasn't sure why.

"Parker" he said, staring at her with that laser-like gaze again. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm afraid you're stuck with me".

Through the corner of her eye she saw him give her the lop-sided smile that made it so hard for her to breathe. "Good" she said, a tiny smile curling her lips.

He leaned back in his seat and sighed. "We're almost there" he said softly.

END


End file.
